


Balthazar's Wrath: A John Constantine Story

by orphan_account



Series: Balthazar [1]
Category: Constantine, Constantine (TV)
Genre: @RockstarJohnny on Tumblr played John, Balthazar is an angel., Based on a RP on Tumblr, I played Balthazar, John is done with this bullshit, PTSD John, THE ADVENTURES OF TWO IDIOTS, Written through a RP, cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:14:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27517423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Balthazar, an angel in need, goes to get help from John Constantine.
Relationships: Suggested Balthazar/John at the end OwO
Series: Balthazar [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2011192
Kudos: 3





	Balthazar's Wrath: A John Constantine Story

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much Rockstar Johnny on Tumblr for RPing with me and also helping me write this!!! (Go check them out their great)

Balthazar sat in the Constantine kitchen, idley sipping some whiskey as he waited for the magical bastard himself. John walked down the hall in an old stained shirt, yawning as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Good morning, Mr. Constantine.” He purred, grinning in delight as John nearly jump three feet. “I’m guessing you don’t know who I am.”

“"No I bloody well don't." John frowned, cautiously moving closer to snatch the bottle of whiskey off the table. "Who are you? How'd you get in 'ere? And what gives you the right to 'ave a go on me booze?"

Balthazar’s grin turned dark, “Name’s Balthazar.” He looked John head to toe, silently recognizing his weaknesses with a glance. “You look like shit.”

John exhaled sharply, glaring at the man as he took a long swig of whiskey. "Oi, listen 'ere Bathsalts or whatever yer focken' name was, you can't just swan in 'ere uninvited 'n insult me appearance. Either piss off or tell me what yer 'ere for."

The fallen angel felt rage spike in him. “It’s Balthazar! Bal-zhe-zar!!” Taking a deep breath, he raised an eyebrow. “And for one...You have a coffee stain on one side, blood stain on the other, then a stain around your stomach. Looks like a daft smiley face.” He stood, shaking out the tension in his shoulders and back. “And I’m here for some demon help.”

John glanced down at his stained shirt, chuckling a little. "Oh aye it kinda does! Guess I'm a walking work of art in more ways than one, eh?" The warlock flashed a cheeky grin, setting the whiskey aside and lighting himself a cigarette while giving Balthazar a curious look. "Ah, demonic troubles? Well you came to the right bloke for that, mate. Let's 'ear what the problem is then?"

“An ol’ mate of mine. Sadly, he can’t be trusted the daft bastard. Now, usually I would’ve had this handled, but...This ones different…” Looking down, he sighed, “I screwed up, Mr. Constantine. I let a 7 sin out of its cage.”

John pursed his lips, exhaling smoke through his nose as he listened to the other man speak. "I see... Sounds like a bit of a pickle there, mate. Care to elaborate a tad more for me? You say this demon's one of the seven sins, correct? Which one is it, and whereabouts can I find the bugger? What's it got to do with yer untrustworthy mate?"

Balthazar muttered softly. “It’s using him as a vessel, John. His name- the vessel - is Jared. He had nothin’ to do with this..With my daft plan. I should’ve..Made sure he was safe before I cast the spell. I was wrong...I let Wrath out..”

"Shit..." John muttered under his breath, giving Balthazar a serious look. "Now why the bloody hell did you do that? What good does unleashing the embodiment of wrath do?! Now lust, sloth, and gluttony I could've dealt with no problem- I can relate to those, but wrath? It's going to be a focken' fight to get that out of yer mate, I can't even guarantee he'll survive."

Balthazar winced as John threw those questions at him. "I...I dunno..." He sighed sadly, "I just have to save that lad, John. Surely you know what it's like to have a best friend...Please. Help me get my friend back."

John sighed, giving Balthazar a stern nod. "Of course. I'll do everything in my power to save him. Now," he stubbed his cig out on the kitchen table and took one last swig of liquid courage. "Let's go. D'you know the whereabouts of yer mate? Have ya got him locked up in yer house or is he on the loose somewhere?"

Balthazar looked disapproving at the wasted cigarette bud. "I have him locked up in my basement. Nifty, eh?" He rolls his shoulders, "Anyways, uh...Are you afraid of heights and fast winds, by any chance?"

"Very nifty!" John responded with a smirk, though his expression quickly shifted to one of confusion at the man's following words, shaking his head. "Er... Nah, not really. I mean, haven't had a whole lot of experience with 'em but.." He raised a brow. "Why'd you ask?"

Balthazar rolls his shoulders, great big black wings shooting out of his back. One hit the coffee mugs, knocking a few to the ground. "Shit, sorry mate. But this is why I asked."  
"Should've guessed with a name like that ye weren't human." John remarked, briefly giving one of his shattered novelty mugs a sad look before returning his gaze to the winged man and taking a deep breath. "Alright. Getting yer chum demon free's a priority over any reservations I might 'ave about this flying malarkey." He began walking out of the kitchen, nodding for Balthazar to follow. "Not letting you crash through me ceiling though, we'll take this outside."

Balthazar muttered as he followed the Warlock. "Surprised. With all the shit that goes down in that house, I assumed you wouldn't mind." He grabbed John's arm and held on tightly. "May wanna hold onto your coat, pal." And suddenly they're 1500 feet in the air.

The warlock grit his teeth and clung onto Balthazar tightly like a terrified drunk koala. Cursing under his breath as they flew, he clamped his eyes shut; both as not to look down at the perilous fall below, but also to stop the sharp cold air stinging his eyes, though every few moments he'd take a peek and immediately regret it.

"So- so how far to your place, mate." John managed to stutter out. "Me arms're getting rather tired..!"

The angel let go of him. "We landed 2 minutes ago, Constantine." Balthazar nodded at a small house in the middle of the field. "In there. Lets just hope Jared hasn't broken out of his cell by now...."

John cautiously opened his eyes, relieved to see something other than clouds and the endless expanse of the ground below. "Oh thank fuck..." He muttered and shakily pulled away, immediately fumbling for a cigarette to calm his nerves.

"Right. Might not be much of a flier, but I can do a bloody good exorcism." The warlock quipped in a cocky manner, a clear attempt to downplay his earlier terror. He then took a few bold steps toward the house, nodding for the winged man to follow. "Let's go pay yer mate a visit 'n hopefully save this poor sod from yer absolute cock-up."

Laughing, Balthazar follows John. But as soon as he opened the door, his face fell with horror. "Shit!" The small farm house was destroyed, furniture over turned and wood planks cracked. "Shit, Jared got out...He must be inside somewhere..."

"Bollocks." John responded while examining the disarray before him, he took a few cautious steps towards an almost caved-in door, peering through the cracks into the room behind. "Jared? Er- Wrath? You in 'ere?"

No response had the occult detective turning back to face Balthazar. "You reckon we should Scooby Doo this? Split up 'n look for 'im? I take upstairs you take downstairs 'n scream if a wrathful demon starts trying to rip yer face off."

Balthazar smirked, "I'm guessing you'll be the mutt, Constantine. Be careful, though." He starts down the hall, folding his wings in, "Howl if you need anything...Scooby." And with that Balthazar disappears into one of the rooms.

"Res Raggy!" Constantine responded in a bad Scooby Doo impression as he walked towards the ravaged staircase, chuckling a little to himself.

He tiptoed his way up to the top floor of the home, examining the shredded wallpaper and shattered floorboards as he went. "Blimey, someone's a right mardy bum today, eh?" The warlock couldn't see nor hear the demon, but he was sure it would be aware of his presence by now. "If yer up 'ere Mr Grumpypants, why don't ya come out for a nice chat? Maybe discuss the refurbishment plans you've got doing on 'ere, not sure I'm a fan of what you've done with the place."

There was a sickening sound of cracking bones as the demon crawled out of his hiding spot. Balthazar's friend, Jared, stood there with red eyes and a dangerous smirk on his face. "Constantine~" He hissed in a low voice. "It's a pleasure..."

"Wish I could say the same, but I'd actually quite like you to piss off out of this poor vessel." John stared down the demon without an ounce of fear- if any emotion was visible on his face it was pure disdain for the creature inhabiting Jared's body.

"You don't belong here, Wrath." He bluntly spoke, taking an unwavering step closer to the demon and holding out his hand. "I command thee to be gone from this mortal coil, remove yourself from this unwilling vessel and return back to the depths of hell from whence you came."

Jared's bones sickly crack and snap as Wrath throws himself around in agony. He screamed, a mixture of an animalistic yowl and a human. The demon roars, lashing out and slashing John with his claws. "YOU WILL NOT SAVE THIS ONE, CONSTANTINE! YOU SHALL FAIL HIM, JUST AS YOU FAILED ASTRA."

Constantine cried out as searing hot pain tore through his face and then his arms as he held them up in a feeble attempt to protect himself from the demon's claws, eyes widening at it's words; They stung more than any injury could, paralysed him in a mix of shock and fear as he toppled from the demon's attacks, hitting the splintered wooded floor with little more than a defeated whimper.

"I didn't-" He uttered, shaking his head stiffly. "I- I tried...."

Suddenly, Balthazar jumps out, eyes glowing purple. "Vade ergo et venit itaque BCK est!!" He roared, "GO BACK OF WHICH THOUGH CAME!!!" Jared hissed, seemingly not weakening. "Constantine. Constantine, get up!!"

John stared ahead as if in a trance, unmoving. He could see the angel, the demon, feel the warm blood trickling down his face and seeping into his shirt, but it felt unreal and distant. Even Balthazar's yelling seemed miles away, muffled by the thumping of his own pulse in his ears.

"I can't..." He finally spoke in a raspy tone. "I don't think we can save him... We- we have to cast Wrath back to hell or more people will die... I'm sorry."

Balthazar winced. "John..I know what happened shook you. I know it still hurts, but bloody hell you CANNOT give up. We can't save that little girl, but we can still save Jared and so many more..." He gripped John's shoulders, "So get off your sorry arse and HELP ME!"  
John blinked a few times and roughly shook his head, as if shaking off the trance he'd been in- while also spraying the walls with the crimson blood dripping from his wounds. "Aye... Can't give up yet." The man slowly and shakily got back to his feet, nodding to Balthazar and once again taking a commanding stance as he held out a bloodied hand.

"Right you tosser." He hissed at the demon. "Once again I compel thee to leave this mortal realm, you have no power here, no power over us nor the human you've forcibly inhabited. Return from whence you came. I command it. GO."

Balthazar smirked, "Revertere, unde venisti !!" He roared in unison of John's spell. The demon howled in pain, its neck cracking one last time before crumpling to the ground. "Jared!" Balthazar raced forward and checked his friend. "Shit..."

John let out a sigh of relief as the demon disappeared from Jared's body in a cloud of sulfuric black mist, immediately fishing for his cigarettes only to find the pack shredded in half from the demon's claws. "Bollocks..."

Tossing the box aside with a defeated grunt, he staggered over to the pair, woozy and grimacing slightly. "Is... is he alive?"

Balthazar bit his lip, "Bastard snapped his neck." He said coldly. "I can't...Shit." He sat back, rubbing his eyes furiously. "I should probably get you home..."

Constantine stared at the man's limp and lifeless body. He felt numb, the only thing keeping him somewhat grounded being the dull ache from his injuries. Wrath was right, he failed.

"I'm so sorry." Was all John could say, flat and lacking emotion. "I thought maybe for a second we..." He trailed off and sighed. "Yeh, just take me home... Please."

Balthazar grabs his arm, and a few seconds later they land outside John's home. The angel puts his hands in his pockets. "Thank you, Constantine...I do hope that we can meet again on different circumstances..." He leans forward and gives John a kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye for now, Constantine." And with a great flap of his wings, the angel disappears into the darkening sky.

Unlike the trip there, John barely reacted to the flight home. His gaze was distant even as Balthazar thanked him, barely cracking a feeble smile at the kiss.

"Sorry I couldn't do more, mate." Was all he managed to muster while watching the dark winged angel disappear into the horizon, turning and heading back to the house. He didn't want to deal with the array of concerns and questions from his guests, nor have them fawning over his injuries, he wanted to be alone right now.

So with some effort from his aching body, he rounded to the back of the large old house and dipped in through a secret entrance, there he could nurse his physical and mental wounds in peace. But first, getting a drink was priority.


End file.
